Anti-abortion backers rallying at Capitol Tuesday

With state government now controlled by Democrats, odds are slim of passing any anti-abortion legislation.

Comment

By Associated Press

Crookston Times - Crookston, MN

By Associated Press

Posted Jan. 22, 2013 at 2:00 PM

By Associated Press
Posted Jan. 22, 2013 at 2:00 PM

St. Paul, Minn.

Anti-abortion advocates are rallying on the steps of the Capitol to call for stronger abortion laws in Minnesota.

Minnesotans Citizens Concerned for Life is hosting the Tuesday rally, which draws thousands to St. Paul each year. The group will announce its agenda for this legislative session.

With state government now controlled by Democrats, odds are slim of passing any anti-abortion legislation. Gov. Mark Dayton last session vetoed a Republican-backed bill that would have required a doctor's presence for pill-induced abortions.

Minnesota physicians have performed more than 560,000 abortions since 1975, according to state records. Yearly procedures have been on the decline over the past three decades, down to 11,000 in 2011.

The event falls on the 40th anniversary of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that established a right to abortion.